One Day At A Time

Every Indian city is well known for its unique street food. So far, you have read all about Mumbai and Mangalore delicacies. How about Kolkata's delicious Kati Roll ! This loved street food of Kolkata is well known all over India as Vegetable Frankie. You can make these wraps in a number of ways .... with vegetables, with paneer (Indian Cottage Cheese) or meat as well. Today I made these rolls with everyone's favorite potatoes and lots of colorful vegetables.

Though these fritters are popular as Mangalore Bajji , these are loved all over Karnataka. I tasted these for the first time, in my Belgaum college canteen. Since then, its one of my favorite fried foods... crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. Ingredients: All Purpose Flour/Maida - 1 cup Besan/Chickpea Flour - 1/4 cup Yogurt/Curd/Dahi - 1/2 cup Coconut (chopped) - 1 1/2 tbsp Cumin/Jeera Seeds - 1 tsp Ginger (finely chopped) - 1 tsp Green Chili (finely chopped) - 1 tsp Cilantro/Coriander Leaves - few sprigs Sugar - 1 tsp Baking Soda - 1/4 tsp Oil for frying How to make Mangalore GoLi Bajji: In a mixing bowl, add all purpose flour, besan, yogurt, salt and sugar. Mix well. Now add water, little at a time, and make a thick batter. I added about 1/4 cup water. Batter must not be too thick or too runny. Cover it with plastic food wrap and set it aside in a warm place overnight.  If not overnight, let the batter rest for at least 30 minutes. Sour yogurt ...

Koshimbir , a vegetable yogurt salad is a regular at our place. Some of you might know this as North Indian Raita, where cucumbers are the main ingredient.  Today, I made this Indian salad with crunchy Romaine Lettuce leaves. This salad with a creamy yogurt dressing is a good option for those who don't like Ranch dressing. Plus, its quite easy to make. Ingredients: Romaine Lettuce (chopped) - 3 cups Red Onions (finely chopped) - 1/3 cup Tomato - 1 medium Yogurt/Curds/Dahi - 1/2 cup Black Pepper Powder - 1/4 tsp Green Chili/Jalapeno Pepper - 1 Salt How to make Romaine Lettuce Koshimbir: Wash Romaine lettuce leaves well and remove all excess water using salad spinner. Discard the thick stems and medium chop the leaves. When it comes to greens, the darker the color, better its nutritive value. That's the reason I prefer slightly darker Romaine lettuce leaves for this salad. You can use Iceberg Lettuce as well. Discard the soft pulp and seeds of the tomato and fi...

As you guys know, Mexican food is one of our favorites. Making Tacos at home is quite effortless. This is a wholesome meal with proteins, veggies and carbs. Since I had to finish some mangoes, mango salsa was the highlight of our tacos. It was a refreshing change from the regular tomato salsa. If you love mangoes too, you must give this a try. Grilled Shrimp: Shrimps/Prawns - 25 Lime Juice - 2 tbsp Cajun Seasoning - 1 1/2 tsp Red Chili Powder - 1 1/2 tsp Oil - 1 1/2 tbsp Salt Mango Salsa: Mangoes (medium chopped) - 1 1/2 cups Red Onions (finely chopped) - about 1/3 cup Jalapeno Pepper - 1 Cilantro/Coriander Leaves - few sprigs Lime Juice - 2 tbsp Black Pepper Powder - 1/4 tsp Salt Whole Wheat Tortillas Shredded Lettuce Grated Cheese Sour Cream Avocado  Guacamole How to make Mango Shrimp Tacos: Mango Salsa: A firm (not mushy) mango works best for salsa. Discard the seeds of the jalapeno pepper and finely...

Summer has arrived and also the seasonal fruits and vegetables. My favorite mangoes are here. Every shopping trip I pick some raw mangoes. As you all know, mango is the key ingredient in Mumbai Bhel Puri and other chaat items. While I was in Mangalore, I came across another version of bhel - Mangalore style Charmuri. You won't need any pudina chutney or imli chutney here, just fresh tomatoes, cilantro and stuff..... a perfect low calorie snack. Ingredients: Puffed Rice/Mamra/Kurmure/Mandakki - 5 cups Roasted Peanuts/Groundnuts/Kadle - 3 tbsp Raw Mango - 1 small Red Onion - 1 medium Tomato - 1 medium Lemon/Lime - 1 Cilantro/Coriander Leaves - few sprigs Oil preferably Coconut Oil - 1/2 tbsp Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp Black Pepper Powder - 1/4 tsp Shev Salt How to make Mangalore Charmuri: Finely chop onion, raw mango and cilantro leaves. Discard the soft pulp of the tomato and finely chop tomatoes too. In a big mixing bowl, add onions, tomatoes, mangoes, c...

Back home, for every festival, my Mom used to make a traditional sweet like Sheera, Kheer, Aamras and my Dad used to get a store bought mithai like this Chocolate Barfi. Double treat for us! It was our tradition. This year I decided to make it at home for Gudi Padwa. Happy Gudi Padwa / Ugadi everyone! Ingredients: Sweetened Condensed Milk - 396 gm (14 oz) Milk Powder - 1 1/2 cups Ghee/Clarified Butter - 2 1/2 tbsp Green Cardamom/Elaichi - 2 pods Saffron/Kesar - few strands Milk Chocolate Bar - 150 gm How to make Indian Chocolate Barfi / Burfi: Crush cardamom seeds and saffron in a mortar pestle to a fine powder.  Grease a flat plate/tray with 1/2 tbsp ghee. Add 2 tbsp ghee to a dry microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds so that it melts. To the melted ghee, add milk powder and condensed milk. Mix well with a spoon. Microwave for 3 minutes. Stop the microwave after every minute and mix. Now add ground cardamom and saffron and ...

Everyone likes to binge on fried goodies once in a while. My favorite ... potato chips.... What if you could make your fried snack slightly nutritious! One way to do it is to try making variety of snacks at home. You might have read about the less oily, Microwave Potato Chips . Let me introduce another homemade savory snack made of Ragi or Nachni or Finger Millet flour. Chakli or Murukku is deep fried, but with the health benefits of gluten free finger millet. Ingredients: Ragi/Nachni/Finger Millet Flour - 1 cup Rice Flour - 1/4 cup Urad Dal/Split Black Gram Flour - 1/4 cup Ghee/Clarified Butter - 1 tbsp. Oil - 1 tbsp. White Sesame Seeds/Til - 1 tsp Carom Seeds/Ajwain/Owa - 1 tsp Red Chili Powder - 1 tsp Sugar - 1 tsp Turmeric/Haldi - 1/4 tsp Salt Oil for frying How to make Nachni Chakli / Ragi Murukku: In a mixing bowl, add ragi flour, rice flour, urad dal flour, sesame seeds, carom seeds, chili powder, turmeric, salt and sugar. Mix well. Add oil and ghee and m...

At the end of the week, when I run out of fresh vegetables, I turn to two of my favorite ingredients - frozen peas and eggs. I must say, both are readily available in my refrigerator most of the times.  Its been ages I made a stuffed paratha in my kitchen.  Egg Parathas are made two ways - one applying beaten eggs to roti, something similar to a French toast and another way stuffed with eggs. We like the latter, stuffed egg bhurji parathas with green chili achar. Dough: Whole Wheat Flour/Atta - 2 1/2 cups Oil - 1 tsp Salt Egg Bhurji Stuffing: Eggs - 5 Onion - 1 small Green Onions/Hara Pyaaz - 6 Mini Bell Pepper - 1 Cumin/Jeera Seeds - 1 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste - 2 tsp Green Chili Paste - 1 tsp Black Pepper Powder - 1/2 tsp Turmeric/Haldi - 1/4 tsp Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp Oil - 2 tbsp Salt How to make Stuffed Egg Bhurji Paratha: Make Dough: In a mixing bowl, add whole wheat flour and salt. Add water, little at a time and knead to make a soft dough...

Finally, the weather has changed in my part of the world and its bright and sunny. I love my morning walks during spring. A fresh start for a day.  Anyways, today I made this simple chutney for our morning breakfast. Both cilantro and a hint of garlic with peanuts make this a perfect accompaniment for South Indian Idlis and Dosas. Ingredients Peanuts/Groundnuts/Shenga - 1 cup Onion (Chopped) - about 1/2 cup Coriander/Cilantro Leaves - about 6 sprigs Garlic - 1 big clove Green Chilies - 4 Tamarind/Imli/Chinch paste - about 1/2 tsp Salt Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp Curry Leaves/Kadipata - 5 Red Chilies - 2 Oil - about 3 tsp How to make Peanut Cilantro Chutney for Idli Dosa: Dry roast the peanuts in a pan until they get small brown spots. Let the peanuts cool. You can discard the peanut skin. I prefer peanuts with the skin, as the skin is nutritious. Keep the peanuts aside. Julienne slice the onions and garlic. Medium chop green chilies. In the same pan, add about 2 tsp ...

North Indian style creamy Paneer curries like Shahi Paneer, Paneer Makhani are true vegetarian delights. These restaurant style delicacies are perfect for entertaining Indian food lovers.   Kadhai Paneer is also a popular one - a semi dry Paneer curry with a lovely flavor of coriander seeds, Kasuri Methi leaves and crunchy bell peppers.